Obama's legacy in science, technology and innovation

The administration's shortcomings around science included limited funding overall

As the old aphorism says, it’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. Assessing the legacy of Barack Obama will be easier in a few decades when we can see the long-term consequences of his presidential decisions and initiatives.

An immediate analysis of his science and technology policies, however, reveals significant accomplishments in the promotion of science and technology, education, space exploitation, clean energy, climate change and the environment. While major endeavors like the Precision Medicine Initiative and Paris climate agreement received the headlines, they were part of a larger, mostly